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2nd man arrested in big drug bust

A second man has been taken into custody on charges of allegedly trafficking one of the largest amounts of heroin seized in the region in recent history.

Timothy Derick Eiland, 22, of Philadelphia, has been taken into custody in that city on felony drug charges filed by Old Lycoming Township Sgt. Detective Christopher Kriner.

While assisting city police look for a bank robber in the city’s Newberry neighborhood on the afternoon of Dec. 3, Kriner pursued a car with three occupants in it after seeing a backseat passenger duck behind the front seat as the vehicle passed him.

Kriner, with the assistance of other officers, stopped the car on Interstate 180 near the Maynard Street interchange.

The backseat passenger, David Emanuel Collins Jr., 23, of Philadelphia, was taken into custody immediately after Kriner learned Collins was wanted in that city on assault-related charges. He also had in his possession an undetermined amount of marijuana, Kriner said.

The car, owned by Hertz Inc., was rented to Eiland, the driver, who was to have returned the vehicle to the company’s Philadelphia office days earlier. Upon being contacted by police, Hertz told investigators they wanted the car to be impounded.

While Collins was incarcerated, Eiland and the second passenger, Durward Anthony Allen, 21, also of Philadelphia, were released.

The next day, after obtaining a search warrant, Kriner discovered more than 1/4 pound of heroin in the passenger section and trunk of the Chrysler 300. The estimated valued of the seized heroin was about $114,000 police said. An estimated $3,000 worth of cocaine also was found in the car, Kriner said.

In addition to the drugs, two loaded stolen handguns were discovered in the vehicle, Kriner said,

Collins, Eiland and Allen all were charged with numerous drug offenses as well as charges of receiving stolen property and carrying a firearm without a license. Collins was arraigned the next day and remains jailed in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $750,000 bail.

At a preliminary hearing earlier this month for Collins, Kriner amended the criminal complaint, adding two additional counts of possession with intent to deliver heroin and one count of conspiracy. District Judge James Carn held Collins on all the charges except one count of receiving stolen property, which he dismissed due to lack a lack of evidence.

Eiland, taken into custody on Dec. 9, is being detained in a jail in Philadelphia on Kriner’s charges as well as firearm charges filed by Philadelphia police. Kriner did not know when Eiland was expected to be moved here to face the local felony and misdemeanor offenses.

Allen remains a fugitive at large, Kriner said.

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